AUSTIN, Texas — For the second year in a row, runners will hear a basketball bouncing during the Austin Marathon.
This time, it’ll be for the entire 26.2 miles, and at a world record pace.
“The world record pace time is about 6:30 per mile” Austin-native Ben Duong said. “Part of me wants to make sure that I don’t leave any doubt about who the best in the world is running this long while dribbling a basketball. So like I would love to break it by a few minutes.”
Duong is a former college track runner at Dallas Baptist, and now spends his spare time training for long distance races.
“There was a 10-mile race here that I got third place in” Duong said. “A month later, at the Turkey Trot, I got fifth, and last year at the formerly-known 3M half-marathon, I was top 10 there.”
Duong’s success in local races even caught the eye of his favorite professional sports team, the San Antonio Spurs.
“They have this idea of, like, ‘let’s go get like a fast runner, give him some Spurs gear and a basketball, like, let’s see if we can’t break a world record,'” Duong said. “(The Spurs thought) ‘We know he has the running side down. It’s just, is he coordinated enough to dribble a basketball the whole time?'”
Duong dribbled for an entire half marathon in 2024, setting a world record in the process. This year, he’s returning with his sights set on the full marathon, and his second world record.
Spurs fan & Austinite, Ben Duong, breaks WORLD RECORD for fastest half marathon while dribbling a basketball!🏅“First and foremost, Spurs, thank y’all for believing in me.”We’re honored for the opportunity to unite people through unforgettable experiences in the community.👏 pic.twitter.com/hsVGXKXsD2
— Austin Spurs (@austin_spurs) February 18, 2024
One of the biggest obstacles that Duong may encounter on race day? The other racers.
“This is a race with thousands of people, and the fear that, like, the ball hits off of one of them or someone gets too close to me [and knocks the ball away],” said Duong. “(Sometimes) people see me dribbling it’s like, ‘oh hey, pass the ball, bro’, or, ‘hey, like can you like dribble while I’m playing defense?'”
The strategy to keep the ball out of harms way, is to rely on a little help from some friends.
“I mean, I have, like, as people call them ‘bodyguards’, it’s really my friends just running along with me and whatnot” said Duong. “Those guys do a really good job in making sure like no one ‘picks my pocket’.”
Duong’s personal best pace for a marathon is 5:51/mile, without dribbling a basketball. If he is able to earn a new world record, he’ll need to keep his pace around 6:30/mile, or faster.
If at any point Duong were to lose possession of the ball, he can pick it up and restart from the exact spot where possession was lost.